Maruti Suzuki delivers 5,000 vehicles since resuming operations

Maruti Suzuki on Monday announced that it has delivered more than 5,000 vehicles over the past several days since resuming operations. The country's largest car maker also announced that around 1,350 showrooms are now operational along with another 300 Maruti Suzuki True Value outlets.

With an emphasis on safety and hygiene, the showrooms and True Value outlets have been given Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that are strictly being adhered to for the well-being of employees as well as customers. "We are happy to serve the customers, who were waiting to drive home their favorite car. The Company has put in place comprehensive norms to ensure that their car buying experience is completely safe," said Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India. "These norms are based on guidelines from the central and state governments. We would like to encourage our customers to digitally choose and book their car and take advantage of the convenience of home delivery of their new vehicles."

Maruti Suzuki has 3,086 showrooms across 1,964 towns and cities. The resumption of operations has started in a gradual manner and wherever lockdown restrictions allow for it. The company has said that all remaining showrooms 'would open in due course if they are not in containment zone or if not specifically restricted by any local guidelines.'

Speaking to HT Auto previously, Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Sales and Marketing) had said that the emphasis is on 'Phygital' means going forward. ""In the last three years, the number of buyers interacting online had been rising. There are 28 touch points when buying a car and 17 to 21 of these - depending on customer preference, OEM and dealership readiness - were already digital. Web inquiries increased from 3% to 20% in recent times, and is rising. So going online is not a knee-jerk reaction at all," he had explained. "But we at Maruti are looking at something as a 'phygital' experience. As a car is the second most high value transaction after a house and so people would want to eventually come to showrooms to experience the vehicle, to test drive it. This means our showrooms and dealer networks remain important as ever."